Thank you for your reviews; and the questions – I will try to make all clear in time.
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Later - rather late - that night House's walkie-talkie came alive again.
"House, are you there?" Cuddy wanted to know.
"Yea," House responded. "I'm here."
"Are you ok?" Cuddy asked.
"The point of these walkie-talkies was for me to find out if you were ok," House countered.
"Well, it's a two-way radio," Cuddy pointed out.
"True, I'll have to give you that," House nodded. "I'm fine. Not perfect, but then that's nothing new, but I'm fine. Really wishing I hadn't given up the booze and drugs but at least I have Aiko, so I'm ok."
"Good," Cuddy responded. "I would really hate to find out that your father has managed to cause problems. He isn't worth it."
"He may not be, but he is still my father," House pointed out dryly. "It's not like I can just ignore him. One of our kids could turn out like him!"
"No way," Cuddy stated with absolute certainty. "He is not just his genes; he is the product of his upbringing and background, his profession. The basic qualities may be there, but we have a lot to do with the eventual person that we raise."
"I know," House agreed. "And that is what scares me witless!"
"I thought I was supposed to be the one with unreasonable guilt-complex!" Cuddy exclaimed. "The kids aren't even here yet and you are already feeling guilty for screwing them up."
"Well, I screwed up the conception, didn't I?" House reminded her. "We weren't supposed to have triplets."
"Yeah, I admit that it's a bit complicated," Cuddy admitted. "But I'm not sure it's a screw-up."
"You are just saying that now when you are feeling sorry for me," House observed.
"Could be, but somehow it didn't feel like a screw-up at the time," Cuddy told him gently.
House thought he heard something in Cuddy's voice and he ventured: "I thought that super-tanker had already sailed?"
"Well, the thing about really super super-tankers is that sometimes they sail back," was Cuddy's somewhat cautious answer.
"So, do you have any idea where the super super-tanker in question might be heading?" House queried with a smile.
"Well, it is currently having some navigational problems," Cuddy observed. "It has a rather heavy load you see, and is sort of stuck in the shallows for now."
"I see," House was sympathetic. "But once the current cargo has been unloaded, do you think the ship might be heading this way for some body-work?"
"I rather think that the bottom might need some scraping," Cuddy replied tongue in cheek.
"Oh, I'm glad you said that, not me," House laughed. "Had I said that I would have been in the doghouse for the longest time!"
"I thought you'd appreciate the expression," Cuddy laughed back.
"Thanks, Cuddy," House told her. "You certainly took my mind away from my Dad. And don't worry; I won't hold you to this."
"Oh, I'm not worrying," Cuddy answered blithely. "You see, I was rather hoping you would hold me to it." At that she closed the connection.
"Cuddy!" House tried to reach her again. "Lisa! Hey, you cannot leave me hanging like this!" But she didn't respond to him again – not that night.
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House was up early the next morning – as was his custom ever since Aiko came into his life. True, he usually went back to bed once he had seen that Aiko was getting her needs met, but still now that they lived in the same house, Cuddy usually saw him – at least briefly – before she left for work.
"Now that is how I like my women," House stated as he limped into the kitchen in Kasumii's wake. Kasumii was naturally carrying Aiko.
"What do you mean?" Cuddy asked with a frown.
"I think he is referring to the fact that you are not wearing any shoes," Blythe smiled teasingly.
"Absolutely," House nodded. "Barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen. What more could any man want?"
"Maybe someone who isn't likely to dump a pot of coffee on his head?" Cuddy observed wryly.
"Ok, that is my cue to turn right back and go to bed," House said getting a bottle of water before heading back to his flat.
"Greg," Blythe stopped him. "Can I have a word?"
"Sure Mom," House agreed. "Do you want to have it here or do you want to be private and follow me to my flat?"
"I think I'd rather follow you," Blythe chose.
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"So what is it Mom?" House asked as they got into his flat.
"Do you want your father out of your house?" Blythe came straight out with it.
"What do you mean?" House wasn't sure what Blythe's motivation for the question was.
"I thought that was a pretty straight forward question," Blythe pointed out. "After what happened last night and the way he feels about Aiko, can you put up with him?"
"Well, I'm not happy with him," House replied cautiously. "And I won't deny that not having him here would be more comfortable. But the point of having him here at all was to make things easier for you. If you still need him here, then I can put up with him. Sure, I will have to limit my exposure to him, but it'll be only for a week or so. And Dr Higa is coming today, so that will help things as I probably need to help him get reacquainted with Aiko. I know it's not obvious, but she has started to feel shy about people she doesn't know or remember."
"So if John stays around for the next couple of days or so, you can live with it?" Blythe wanted to be sure.
"If you need, him, then yes," House replied.
"We talked for quite some time last night," Blythe said. "Only I'm not sure if you can call it talking. He just would not understand how important Aiko is to us. He just doesn't understand. I told him that I definitely do not want to be married to him, but I need to give him every chance. I don't think he will change, but I need to feel more certain of it. I know, with my mind, that he is what and who he is, but my heart still hopes. As you said, I gave him fifty years of my life; that is not something you just write off as a bad bargain. He will not stay for more than two more nights, no matter what happens, but I need to make sure I have done everything for my marriage."
"Then I can put up with him a little longer," House nodded. "Not happily, but I don't think you're feeling too happy right now either?"
"No," Blythe agreed. "I feel like an utter fool for having been married to him all these years and not having seen him for what he is at all."
"Hey, Mom," House gave a one-armed hug to his mother (his cane was in his other hand). "He wasn't really around that much; and you really didn't have that many chances of seeing him for what he is."
"That's not really an excuse, but thank you," Blythe caressed her son's cheek briefly. "I'll let you get back to bed for an hour. Can you stand having your father in your car on the way to work? We have our first session with Cecil just before I need to start work."
"Sure," House shrugged. "Kasumii can take the bike so it shouldn't be too crowded."
"Thank you," Blythe smiled. "I'll try to gag him for the drive."
"That would be appreciated," House said with feeling as he limped towards his bed while his mother headed back to the main kitchen.
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Later that day House was in the clinic doing his hours. Apparently his mother had been able to be stern enough with John House, as the ride to PPTH had been pretty much silent except for a couple of remarks about the weather, so there had been no additional aggravation, which was a good thing, since he was having a very had time with being reasonably nice to the idiot patients that were crowding the clinic this fine morning! If only Sheridan was already in charge; House could have sent him a barrage of disgruntled patients.
When he saw his next patient – or actually it was patients – as he entered the exam room, he felt for a moment that his boredom had finally unhinged him. He was seeing triple. Three angelic looking little girls, about seven years of age, were waiting for him. They were identical from the tips of their pink sneakers to the top of their blond heads. House turned to the harassed-looking mother who was with them – at least, she was only one (though House had a sneaking suspicion that she was the one who really wanted to be three!).
"So what seems to be the problem?" House asked.
"Mary-Jane has sinusitis," the mother responded. "And I'm fairly sure Mary-Sue has it, too, but Mary-Anne probably has only a cold as yet."
"Mary-what?" House wasn't sure he had heard correctly.
"Mary-Jane, Mary-Sue and Mary-Anne," the mother sighed; obviously House was not the first to ask the question. The girls paid no mind to their mother or House, they were whispering together about whatever it was they found interesting in their present location.
"Seriously?" House had to check.
"Yes," the mother nodded. "I was suffering from postpartum depression."
"Was there any reason to make them suffer for it?" House wanted to know.
"I wasn't able to decide what to have for breakfast, or if I even wanted any, so I didn't have any say in their names," the mother told him. "They were named by their father."
"Are you still married to him?" House queried.
"Yes, he is a lovely man," was the response. "Of course, nobody's perfect."
"So I have been told," House agreed. "Any reason why you think they have sinusitis?"
"They have had it before," the mother explained. "They are prone to it and I have learned to watch out for the symptoms."
"Ok, let's see what the kids have then," House got the necessary things out and then he turned to the girls. "Right, then Mary, line up in front of me."
The girls did as told and House checked the first one. Once he was done he took a surgical marker and drew a line on the girls left cheek. He checked the next one and marked her with an x. When it was turn for the third girl to be marked he said: "Sure I could leave you without a mark as you already look different from your sisters, but that would be preferential treatment." So he drew two short lines to her cheek.
"Right," House turned to the mother. "Mary One has sinusitis; I'll give her a prescription. Mary X has sinusitis too, but hers has gone into her ears as well, so she needs something stronger than her sister. Mary Two has only a cold so far, but bed rest and plenty of liquids are recommended. Keep them home till the marks on their faces fade, which will happen in a week or so. Make sure the two of them take the full course of medicine I'm prescribing them and if the symptoms persist bring them back."
"Thank you," the mother said giving a somewhat longing glance at the marker on the table. House noticed it and turned to take it. He gave it to her.
"Use this judiciously," he instructed.
"Thank you again," the mother gave him a grateful smile.
"Have you ever thought of dressing them differently?" House wanted to know.
"Yes, but they get distressed. I'm not so sure they know they are three different people," the mother shrugged diffidently. "I'm fairly sure that they think of themselves as a single unit. It's ... I just can't ... I love them; I don't want them to be unhappy. They will grow up and have independent lives quite soon enough."
"Yeah, I suppose you are right," House mused as he escorted them out.
As they got out of the exam room Cuddy saw them. She took one look at the girls and turned to House: "House! What have you done now!" She pulled him back into the exam room and out of earshot from the people in the waiting room.
"I just needed to make sure I knew which one I had already checked," House replied innocently.
"Surgical marker!" Cuddy distressed. "I can't even imagine how that made their mother feel."
"She wanted one for herself," House pointed out.
"One what?" Cuddy got confused.
"A surgical marker," House elaborated. "She thought is was a good idea."
"You couldn't just get their names?" Cuddy asked. "You know, use their names instead of marking them as one, two and x."
"Yeah, their names! Come with me," House dragged Cuddy back into the waiting room where the girls still were waiting for their mother to fill the prescriptions at the pharmacy. House spotted them and yelled: "Mary!" as the girls turned as one he just waved to them and said. "Nothing, thanks." Then he turned to Cuddy. "See, their name was of no help."
"They cannot all be called Mary!" Cuddy insisted at which House slapped the files into her hand. She read them and stared. "Mary-Jane, Mary-Sue and Mary-Anne... You have to be kidding me!"
"Not me," House denied. "Their Daddy named them."
"Really?" Cuddy paused for a thought. "Well, you wanted to name our trips Junior."
"That was before Jimmy junior turned out to be a girl," House groused going to get his next patient.